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24/00834/B Page 1 of 7
PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Application No. : 24/00834/B Applicant : Mr Jason Elliott Proposal : Creation of 16 additional self-storage units situated in the existing car park of the self-storage facility in Jurby Industrial Estate Site Address : Elliott Storage Jurby Industrial Estate Jurby Isle Of Man IM7 3BD
Planning Officer: Paul Visigah Photo Taken : 15.05.2024 Site Visit : 15.05.2024 Expected Decision Level : Planning Committee
Recommendation
Recommended Decision:
Permitted Date of Recommendation: 04.10.2024 __
Conditions and Notes for Approval
C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions
C 1. The development hereby approved shall be begun before the expiration of four years from the date of this decision notice.
Reason: To comply with Article 26 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals.
C 2. The proposed storage containers as shown on drawing referenced 103, shall be coloured dark green and retained as such thereafter.
Reason: In the Interests of visual amenity of the site and surrounding area
C 3. No items of machinery or any equipment or other goods shall be kept outside of any containers, and all activities shall be undertaken within the containers as shown on drawing 103 unless otherwise approved in writing by the Department.
Reason: To protect the neighbouring amenity
C 4. In the event that the containers hereby approved are not used or required for storage purposes for a period exceeding 12 months, the containers and fencing hereby approved shall be removed and the ground restored to its former condition within 18 months of its last use.
Reason: This approval has been exceptionally approved solely to meet the storage need and its subsequent retention if left abandoned could result in an unwarranted visual impact.
C 5. There shall be no retailing from the storage units.
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Reason: For the avoidance of doubt, and to ensure the development takes place in accordance with the approved details.
C 6. Notwithstanding the provisions of the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 2019, the use hereby approved shall be limited to storage.
Reason: For the avoidance of doubt, to ensure the development takes place in accordance with the approved details and in the interest of the local amenity.
C 7. No waste or any other such material shall be stored outside of the containers unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Department.
Reason: To protect the character and environment of the site and wider area.
C 8. The car parking area hereby approved shall at all times be made available for the parking for visiting customers and shall be retained available for such use. No vehicle may be left over night within the parking area.
Reason: To ensure adequate parking is provided given the reduction in parking spaces.
This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason. This application has been recommended for approval as it is deemed to result in no harm to the use and enjoyment of neighbouring properties or the highway network, and would not result in adverse visual impact or impact to the character of the area. The proposal is, therefore considered to align with the principles promoted by General Policy 2, Strategic Policy 1 and 10, Business Policy 1, and Transport Policies 4 and 7 of Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.
Plans/Drawings/Information; This decision relates to the following documents and plans:
o Statement o Guidance on Traffic Movements o Appendix C - Jurby Movement Survey Summary o Appendix C - Live Traffic Data o Drawing No. 100 - Location Plan Site Plan o Drawing No. 101 Existing General Arrangement o Drawing No. 102 Proposed Location Plan Site Plan o Drawing No. 103 Proposed General Arrangement __
Interested Person Status
None __
Officer’s Report
THIS APPLICATION IS REFERRED TO THE COMMITTEE AS IT COULD BE CONSIDERED A DEPARTURE FROM THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN BUT IS RECOMMENDED FOR APPROVAL.
1.0 THE SITE 1.1 The application site is the curtilage of Elliott Storage, situated on the land adjacent to unit 285, Jurby Industrial Estate. This storage facility sits on the south eastern side of the Ballamenagh Road, Jurby, and is comprised of shipped containers stacked to create two storeys of storage, with metal stairs and connecting deck serving as access to the upper floor.
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The facility is fenced in welded mesh metal fencing painted green, opening up at the gated entrance linked to the main estate road.
1.2 The surrounding area is characterised by a mix of industrial buildings styles with no uniform design or appearance where the street scene is of different sizes, layout, design and form, although all the buildings in the immediate vicinity are pitch roofed industrial styled buildings.
1.3 The existing facility currently provides 66 Storage container's over two levels, which are leased to members of the public.
1.4 There is a new single storey section of storage containers set out within part of the parking area, and this is not shown on the approved floor plans and site plan for the site under PA 21/00322/B, and there is no evidence of planning approval being granted for this extension to the units.
2.0 THE PROPOSAL 2.1 Planning approval is sought for Creation of 16 additional self-storage units situated in the existing car park of the self-storage facility in Jurby Industrial Estate. The proposed scheme seeks to erect a second storey level of shipping containers over the existing single storey structure that sits within the south-western part of the parking area of this facility (which currently does not benefit from planning approval).
2.2 This addition to the storage area would measures about 19.5m long, 6m wide and 5.3m tall from the ground level to the edge of its flat top. A 1.5m wide external corridor with stairway will provide access to the storage units on the first floor. There would be no external cladding as the structures would appear mainly as stacked shipping containers with green coloured finish.
2.3 A loading and unloading area for nine (9) vehicles would be retained on site, as the scheme would utilise the parking area for 4 of the 13 available parking spaces on site.
2.4 The new scheme would create additional storage floor area of about 236sqm (14.70sqm for each container x 16) over both levels, with an additional area of external corridor measuring 29.25sqm on the second floor. The storage floor area of 236sqm should require an additional provision for 2 parking spaces to meet the Strategic Plan parking requirement of 1 space per 100 square metres gross floor space, for Storage and distribution.
2.5 The applicants have provided a Planning Statement which states the following: 1. The existing facility currently provides 66 Storage container's over two levels, at present the storage facility is operating at maximum capacity and has been for some time and demand is continuing to growth with waiting lists stretching for months. 2. The applicants have liaised with Highway services over the previous application (approval) and it was clear that the car parking facilities at the Jurby Storage facility were over generous and that additional units could be installed in the carpark without having a negative effect. 3. Highway Services agreed that given the use of this site as an unmanned Self Storage facility, and not a "Storage and distribution" Business it should not be compared to the standards for car parking issued in Appendix 7 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan. But the requirement of car parking would be based on guidance from "Self Storage Association UK" and Actually Traffic Data evidence Collected from the site instead. 4. This decision to re-evaluate the parking requirements has meant that the No. of Car parking spaces can be reduced from 13 to 9 and still meet the requirements set out, allowing the redevelopment a portion of the site otherwise underutilised into additional storage units. 5. From current leasing records the storage facility serves a number of Retail, Construction/Tradesmen, Commercial Offices, Digital Entertainment, Event management
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companies and Fitness companies, and not mainly private individuals storing mainly house hold items, with a few containers going to trades as initially anticipated. 6. The clientele have confirmed that the presence of this facility has allowed them to successfully expand from mainly small home startups, into small to medium-sized businesses while maintaining relatively low overheads. 7. Given that the storage facility is providing local business the opportunity to grow, it is argued that the very presence of this facility is providing an indirect benefit to the local economy, allowing the applicant to expand the existing business to grow along with many potential future startups. 8. The units would be operated mostly remotely with no permanent staff on site other than maintenance staff visiting. The current facility is providing employment for 3 members of staff. These would work along office-based staff working from another location.
3.0 PLANNING POLICY 3.1 Site Specific: 3.1.1 The application site is within an area designated as "Airfield" identified on the Isle of Man Development Plan Order 1982. The site is not within a Conservation Area or flood prone area.
3.2 Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016: 3.2.1 Given the nature of the application and the history of approval for industrial development in this area, it is appropriate to consider the following planning policies: a. General Policy 2 - 'Development Control' considerations. b. Strategic Policy 1 - Efficient use of land and resources. c. Strategic Policy 3 - Development to safeguard character of existing towns and villages. d. Strategic Policy 5 - Design and visual impact. e. Environment Policy 23 - Consideration of the potential adverse impact of alterations and improvements to existing facilities on neighbours. f. Environment Policy 42 - character and need to adhere to local distinctiveness. g. Business Policy 1 - The growth of employment opportunities throughout the Island will be encouraged provided that development proposals accord with the policies of this Plan. h. Business Policy 5 - On land zoned for industrial use, permission will be given only for industrial development or for storage and distribution. i. Transport Policy 4 - Highway Safety. j. Transport Policy 7 and Appendix A.7.6 - Parking Provisions: Storage and distribution - 1 space per 100 square metres gross floor space. k. Community Policy 10 - Proper access for firefighting appliances l. Community Policy 11 - Prevention for the outbreak and spread of fire.
4.0 OTHER MATERIAL CONSIDERATIONS 4.1 Traffic patterns for self-storage: Self Storage Association United Kingdom 4.1.1 On average there are less than 7 cars per 100 units, entering a site over the whole day. With customers staying an hour on average, most sites would only ever have 2 or 3 cars per 100 units on site at any given time.
4.1.2 There are rarely "visitors" to self-storage facilities. Self-storage units are not usually used for retail sales. While they can be used for storage of commercial goods, they are not sales offices' or administrative units. In fact most do not even have power to the units. This means there are no "visitors" to the site other than prospective customers. Vehicles within the site are primarily either loading or unloading goods.
4.1.3 Average vehicles entering per day during the regular access hours by centre size and immediate market area: o Number of self-storage spaces: Less than 100 o Average Vehicles per day: 6.5
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4.1.4 Average vehicles entering per day during outside of the regular access hours by centre size and immediate market area: o Number of self-storage spaces: Less than 100 o Average Vehicles per day: 2.1
5.0 PLANNING HISTORY 5.1 The application site has been the subject of a previous planning application under PA 21/00322/B for Erection of a two storey self-storage facility with associated loading and unloading bays, which was approved by the Planning Committee in February 2022. This enabled the erection and operation of the facility in its current form, and was subject to 10 approval conditions.
5.2 PA 24/00123/B for Creation of Second Storey level over existing site footprint was refused on 5 June 2024. The application was refused for the following reason: "1. Due to the overall height, block design and form, bulky appearance, and siting of the proposed development along a prominent route within the industrial estate, it is considered that the proposal would result in the creation of a dominant flat roofed structure, which would fail to relate positively with the dominant character of the immediate surroundings, adversely affecting the character of the surrounding street scene, contrary to General Policy 2 and Environment Policy 42, whilst also failing to make a positive contribution to the environment of the Island, thus failing to comply with Strategic Policy 5 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016."
5.2.1 The officer noted within Paragraph 2.6 of the officer report that a new single storey section of storage containers which was not included as part of the proposed development or assessed as part of the proposed development under PA 24/00123/B, was seen on site during the site visit. The current scheme seeks to build over the footprint of these single storey units situated over part of the parking area on the southwest corner of the site.
6.0 REPRESENTATIONS Copies of representations received can be viewed on the government's website. This report contains summaries only.
6.1 DOI Highways find the proposal to raises no significant road safety or highway network efficiency issues, and as such raise no objection to the application. They refer to the UK self- storage parking standards, whilst suggesting that the scheme aligns with the UK Guidance (13 August 2024) which is the most applicable guidance given that the Strategic Plan provides no guidance on parking for self-storage facilities.
6.2 Jurby Parish Commissioners have not commented at the time of writing.
6.3 No comments have been received from neighbouring properties.
7.0 ASSESSMENT 7.1 The fundamental issues to consider in the assessment of this planning application are; a. The Visual Impact (Gp2b, c, SP 5, EP42); b. Impact on the neighbouring amenity (GP2 & EP23); c. Parking and Highway Safety (TP4 & 7).
7.2 The principle of the storage use of the site was already considered acceptable under PA 21/00322/B, which considered the conformity of the development with the current dominant uses of the sites within the estate, and the creation of employment opportunities as justifications for the industrial use. As such, no further assessment would be made on the acceptability of the principle of the proposed additional storage use of the site.
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7.3 VISUAL IMPACT 7.3.1 In terms of visual impacts of the current proposal, it is considered that the current proposal would be clearly linked with the existing facility, such that its appearance would result in views of a congruent unit of storage units, making it difficult to clearly define existing elements and newly proposed units. As such, it is considered that the proposal would be in keeping with the character of the immediate site in its current context.
7.3.2 Further to the above, the proposed addition to the storage units would have similar height and appearance as the existing, as it would be no taller than the units on the site, and would reflect the dominant style on the site in terms of the design and layout of the units.
7.3.3 It is also considered that the appearance of the finish of the structure in crinkled profile, similar to that of an industrial type cladding evidenced on the existing structure on site, and some of buildings within the estate would serve to diminish the impacts on the area, as it would be in keeping with the external finish of the units on site and buildings in the area. As such, it is considered that the general appearance, scale, bulk and appearance, would be in keeping with the character of the site, and in turn the area within which it sits.
7.3.4 Given the above, it is considered that proposal would be appropriate for the setting of the area and would not result in adverse impacts on the character of the overall site, and read in accordance with GP2 (b, c, & g) and EP42.
7.4 IMPACT ON NEIGHBOURING AMENITY 7.4.1 In assessing the impact of the proposal on neighbours, the main concern here lies in the potential for the increased activity at the site to have an impact on the neighbouring units as the separating distance of about 44m, and the fact that the facility is situated north of these neighbours which would ensure that there are no concerns in terms of loss of light or overbearing impacts.
7.4.2 With regard to the impact of the increased use of the facility for an additional 16 units for storage on the area, it is considered that this would not result in significant adverse impact on the use of the neighbouring buildings, given the situation of its access which is linked to the main internal link road, and which is not shared with these buildings, as there are no building situated directly adjacent the access to the application facility. Therefore, it is considered that the proposed alteration would be compliant with EP23 and GP2.
7.5 PARKING AND HIGHWAY SAFETY 7.5.1 In assessing the parking requirements for the proposal, it is noted that the previous scheme provided 13 parking spaces to serve the facility which had a gross floor area measuring about 1219sqm, which would be appropriate, given the Strategic Plan requirement of 1 space per 100 square metres gross floor space.
7.5.2 The current scheme seeks to increase the gross floor area for storage by an additional 236sqm, which would require an additional 2 parking spaces. As such, it is considered that there is shortfall in parking provision, given that the site would now have 9 spaces instead of 15.
7.5.3 Notwithstanding the above, the advice from DOI Highways confirms acceptability of the proposal, as they consider it to align with the UK self-storage parking standards, which is a new guidance for storage facilities which are deemed to be different form standard storage and distribution facilities. The documents provided by the applicants also reinforce the position that there would be limited impacts on parking resulting from the proposal. As such, it is considered that the parking elements of the scheme would be acceptable.
7.5.4 In terms of potential impacts on the adjacent highway, it is considered that the proposal would not result in changes to the vehicular access to the site, such that access and
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exit by vehicles would be uninhibited, with no highways safety implications. As such, it is considered that this element of the proposal aligns with the principles of TP 4.
8.0 CONCLUSION 8.1 For the above reasons, it is concluded that the planning application would be appropriate for the character of the site and area, and accords with the aforementioned planning policies of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.
9.0 INTERESTED PERSON STATUS 9.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019, the following persons are automatically interested persons: (a) the applicant (including an agent acting on their behalf); (b) any Government Department that has made written representations that the Department considers material; (c) the Highways Division of the Department of Infrastructure; (d) Manx National Heritage where it has made written representations that the Department considers material; (e) Manx Utilities where it has made written representations that the Department considers material; (f) the local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated; and (g) a local authority adjoining the authority referred to in paragraph (f) where that adjoining authority has made written representations that the Department considers material.
9.2 The decision maker must determine: o whether any other comments from Government Departments (other than the Department of Infrastructure Highway Services Division) are material; and o whether there are other persons to those listed above who should be given Interested Person Status
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I confirm that this decision has been made by the Planning Committee in accordance with the authority afforded to that body by the appropriate DEFA Delegation and that in making this decision the Committee has agreed the recommendation in relation to who should be afforded interested person status and/or rights to appeal.
Decision Made : Permitted
Committee Meeting Date: 14.10.2024
Signed : P VISIGAH Presenting Officer
Further to the decision of the Committee an additional report/condition reason was required (included as supplemental paragraph to the officer report).
Signatory to delete as appropriate YES/NO See below
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